I've forgotten my password. What's next?

Use the password reminder feature. It will send an email message containing a password hint to your email inbox. This will help you recall your password. The email will be sent immediately upon your password reminder request. If you do not receive the email message, please review your email spam settings or spam folder. You may also find the password reminder feature link at the DCA Survey login page.

Is this website free to use? If not, how much does it cost?

The DCA Survey website is free for all to sign-up and to create basic surveys. All other folks, including ones who participate in surveys or those who just want to casually browse the DCA Survey website need not sign up (but are highly encouraged to do so). All that we ask is that you abide by our DCA Survey terms of use.

While we offer a free service, the features provided are limited. If the free service does not completely meet your survey needs, we encourage you to sign up for an online subscription. By doing so, you will immediately have available to you an extensive set of survey features. Your financial support will also benefit you in the future by supporting future development and enhancements to our survey software and online service. For details concerning an online subscription, please consult our pricing web page. We believe that our service is competitively priced and one that provides great value to you.

I just signed up. How do I activate my account?

Immediately after signing up, a welcome email message was sent to the email address you have chosen as your login id. The welcome email message contains a link to activate your account. You will need to click that "activation" link.

If you have not received the email message, please review your email spam settings or spam folder. While email delivery is usually immediate, it may take a few minutes for the welcome message to be delivered due to high email or internet traffic at such time.

As a last measure, you may also click the account activate request link. When prompted, please provide the email address you used to sign up to create a DCA Survey account.

Please note, to use the DCA Survey website, all account email addresses must be real and actively used. Invalid email addresses, including ones with bounced-back email messages, may be subject to having their account disabled. This is a necessary requirement as it is the only way we are able to communicate with you about important updates and changes. You can be assured that we treat your email inbox with respect and will not load it up with frivolous email messages. You may find more details at our DCA Survey privacy policy web page.

I'd like to change the email address I use to login to this website. How do I make such change?

You may do so, while logged in, using the account update web page. It is quick and easy. Incidentally, this is true for any account details you provide.

We strongly encourage you to use an active email address for your account. It is the only means which we may communicate with you about important updates and changes. You may be assured that we treat your email inbox with respect and will not load it up with frivolous email messages. You may find more details at our DCA Survey privacy policy web page.

Note, if you change your account's email address, an email message notification will be sent to the old account email address. This is done for security purposes, including your own personal protection.

How do I change my password?

You may do so, while logged in, using the account update web page. It is quick and easy. Incidentally, this is true for any account details you provide. When you change your password you will also want to update the password reminding hint, too.

When, where, why, and how do I logout?

You should click the logout link located in the upper right corner every time you leave the DCA Survey website. You should absolutely do so if you are using a shared computer like a kiosk or at an internet cafe. The logout action provides the greatest level of security. By assertively logging out, you will need to login the next time you visit the DCA Survey website.

On the other hand, some folks prefer the convenience of returning to the DCA Survey website without having to actively login every time. After you successfully login, your session will persist for up to one year. This means you may return to the website without having to login. This is true so long as your encrypted session cookie remains within your web browser's local storage. When you click the logout link located in the upper right corner, your web browser will be instructed to remove the session cookie. Without a persisted session cookie, you will need to login the next time you visit the DCA Survey website.

The website tells me I need Cookies enabled. What is this about?

Where may I find more information concerning the terms of use of this website?

The DCA Survey's terms of use link may be found at the bottom of most DCA Survey web pages. The terms of use details your relationship with dcasurvey.com and its affiliates, collectively known as "DCA Survey".

How do I make a suggestion to improve the website?

Where may I find information to design and conduct a successful survey?

We hope you find the DCA Survey survey design guide to be most helpful. It is an extensive guide that contains lots of information and tips to help you with conducting a successful survey. You may also consider the DCA Survey survey tips guide for an abbreviated read.

Where may I find some helpful tips for creating a successful survey?

We hope that you find the DCA Survey survey tips guide to be helpful. It is a good place to start before designing your first survey and is also an excellent refresher if you have not conducted a survey for some time. The DCA Survey survey design guide nicely compliments the tips guide and further details, at greater length, how to create a successful survey.

How do I improve my survey's response rate?

How do I use email to invite people to take my survey?

Please review our email invitation guide. A survey's success starts with an effective invitation. Our email invitation guide will provide you with some tips to better ensure your email message inviting people to take a survey gets read and the survey link is then clicked.

Where do I find an overview using the survey design tool?

Please review our primer on using the survey design tool. Whether you are new to designing surveys or already are a pro, you will find this guide to be a helpful read. It provides a good, high level summary of the survey design tool.

What is the difference between a survey which uses an Express design versus one that uses Pages?

A survey which uses a Page design is one that groups a related set of questions on each page. An Express design will display either one question at a time or display all questions at once on a single web page. A survey which uses a Page design is ideal for a survey which contains many questions while an Express design is preferable for a short survey or for an inexperienced survey designer. More details on these two high level survey design options may be found in our overview document.

Is it okay to switch to an Express design from a Page design and vice versa?

Yes. Absolutely. The survey design tool is completely flexible and designed to work with you. You may switch to either format at any time and without limitation. The same is true for lower level survey design options as well.

While there are no technical limitations to making any design change, as a practical matter though, you will likely want to refrain from making such changes once your survey goes live. Doing so may become a source of confusion for the survey participants and quite possibly for yourself, as survey owner, as well.

Is it okay to make changes to the survey design and configuration after receiving responses?

Yes, you may. The survey design tool is completely flexible and designed to work with you. You may make changes at any time and without limitation. One important consideration is that your changes most likely will effect the survey results.

While there are no technical limitations to making any design change, as a practical matter though, you will likely want to refrain from making such changes once your survey goes live. Sometimes though, a live change is absolutely necessary. It is recommended that you regularly use the Preview feature while developing your survey and that you thoroughly test your survey before going live.

Where may I find more help on using survey skip logic?

Where do I find help for a specific survey configuration setting?

While designing or editing your survey, you may find helpful information about the specific configuration setting by clicking the icon immediately adjacent to the setting. A new web browser window will open containing the help information sought.

Your web browser settings must permit popup windows to appear for this website. Note: this website uses pop-up windows sparingly. It does so in this instance so you may read the help text side by side while reviewing the survey configuration setting.

Can I design a survey in a language other than English?

Yes, indeed. The DCA Survey software is expressly designed to allow you to design a survey in languages other than English. Additionally, you may use another character-set such as Chinese, Arabic, Thai, and Korean, to name a few.

You specify such language setting at the 'Survey' setting level. By doing so, it will instruct your survey participants' web browsers to render the text in the proper character-set (e.g. Chinese, Arabic, etc.).

If you conduct a survey in a language other than English, you will also need to modify the default setting for several of the survey configurations. Such modifications include the text which appears on buttons and the message which appears when a response is required for a question. The 'Preview' survey menu will be of benefit to you while you make and test such changes.

Can I apply my own custom HTML formatting to the survey design?

Yes, you may, but to a limited extent, using the HTML bold, italics, and underline tags. You will need to be familiar with and skilled in HTML. The limited HTML coding option is done for security purposes which includes malicious script injection attack concerns.

Perhaps a better option is to use the custom style and theme settings provided by the DCA Survey software. It is provided to all and requires no special HTML skills to use.

Can I modify my survey's presentation using a theme?

Yes, indeed. And it is quite easy to do. Such presentation feature is located under the 'Style' menu item while designing a survey. Additionally, you may use a selected theme as a starting point to tweak and further customize the look of your survey.

Can I customize my survey's colors and font?

Can I simulate taking a survey without actually submitting a response?

Yes, absolutely and it is highly encouraged that you do by accessing the 'Preview' menu item which is accessible while designing (or editing) a survey. No data is collected when you click the survey's submit button while in 'Preview' mode. The purpose of 'Preview' mode is to permit you to view survey configuration and content changes immediately and quickly as you go about your task of designing a survey.

How do I copy a survey?

To copy a survey, you first select the 'Create Survey' menu link from the My Surveys homepage. You will then see an option to copy the design of another survey you own. Note: when you copy a survey, only the design, presentation and survey form content is copied. The newly copied-to survey will contain zero responses. The survey copy feature is ideal apply the test version of a survey to the one used for going live.

How do I make my survey results public?

The checkbox option to make the results public is located under the 'Analyze' menu link. You will need to promote the web address of the survey results to those interested. The survey results web address is located next to the checkbox option.